Band that represents the 80s best

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

Poll question: Band that represents the 80s best

[bhunt70]

1. while other bands were better, FoS has my vote

They are the first I thought about although I like the others much better.

[vi5]

2. Speaking of Flock of Seagulls....why had I never previously heard

Space Age Love Song by them? I was watching a documentary on 80's skate boarder Mark Gator Ragowski and that song was playing during a portion of it and when I checked the end credits, it identified it as that song. What a great song.

Of course my sorry punk self in the 80's wouldn't have admitted it even if I had heard it back then...but still.

[southpaw]

4. Gator!!!!

I'm more of a Z-boys guy, myself!

Skate on, Dude!!!!

[vi5]

10. Did you see either of those documentaries?

Both are just stellar movies that made me super nostalgic for my teen years both in terms of the skating stuff and just the overall simpler nature of the times.

[southpaw]

11. I've got "Dogtown and Z-Boys" on DVD...

Which other documentary are you referring to?

And yeah, total nostalgia for the days when Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Shogo Kubo, Stacy Peralta... were showing the world what could be done with a skateboard and an empty swimming pool...

[vi5]

16. The other documentary is "Gator: The Rise and Fall"...

It's pretty much just about Gator and how he came up up through the ranks of the scene and then what happened that caused his downfall and murder conviction, etc. It's obviously more focused on one guy but it gives off a similar vibe as Dogtown and Z-boys.

[southpaw]

18. I'll definitely have to check that out!

Gator and Jay Adams are a bit alike, no? I had tears in my eyes watching Jay talk about his downhill slide in 'Z Boys'

So... Who's your favorite skater of all time? I gotta go with Shogo, though Tony Alva's name was on my first real board.

[vi5]

19. Yeah, but Gator's was way worse...

Adam's was for drugs, right? This movie shows how far Gator went downhill and also explores how he got into super fundie christianity.

I was always a fan of the biggies. I won't front and say I was an afficianado or a great skater myself. I was just always a fan of the sport and the overall culture. I was more of a punk and a musician so the whole skater thing went hand in hand with that.

The weird thing for me was seeing how normal all the former skate betties and groupie girls look now, compared to how wild they were back then. Whereas most of the guys still look like wild child/greaseball types. It's pretty funny.

[southpaw]

22. I was no great skater, either...

Just a kid from Piedmont, Alabama with an Alva deck and a stack of 'Skateboarder' magazines who worshipped the whole Dogtown crew...

Yeah, Jay's incarceration was for drugs, but he had been in trouble earlier for a drunken brawl that resulted in the death of a gay man that he and some friends beat down. That was a terrible disappointment for me, but Jay never seemed like the most enlightened guy on the block, just a really gnarly skater who knew no fear and pushed the limits of the sport purely for the thrill... never really made money on it.

Stacy Peralta is the guy who took it all seriously and has remained a key player in skating from the early 70's (as an OG Z-Boy) till the present (As a film maker... chronicling the birth and evolution of skating)

There's just something about a skateboard, especially a classic pig with soft, fat wheels and some Humpston art on the bottom, that get's my blood pumping... just like in the old days!

[vi5]

23. I didn't know that other stuff about Jay...

Only what I saw in Dogtown/Z-Boys which kind of glossed over it.

Yeah, it's clear that Peralta had his act together 100% and given how much more together and well managed the skaters that learned under him (Tony Hawk, etc.) seem to be, clearly he is one of the main people responsible for keeping the sport alive and bringing it to it's current level of acceptance. Most of the other guys didn't seem to have the head on their shoulders to be able to handle the fame and money, or even the pure love of the sport to carry it on to the second, third, and fourth generations.

[southpaw]

24. Stay in touch, vi5...

There are so few skater-types on DU...

[jus_the_facts]

3. Motley Crue.....Shout....Shout...Shout...Shout At The DEVIL...

:headbang:

[ScreamingMeemie]

6. I actually went to their "Girls, Girls, Girls..." concert twice.

don't tell anybody. My daughter wears my concert Tshirt constantly... Where has the time gone? :hi:

[jus_the_facts]

Them and RATT were my intro into m'headbangin' daze.........

.....ahh high school memories...sigh...where DOES the time go?! x(

:hi:

[southpaw]

5. Duran Duran...

John Taylor was perhaps the greatest bassist of the decade!

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. ...and he was smoking HOT!

At least at the time.

[Philostopher]

8. You are correct!

He was the only legitimate reason for sitting through any Duran Duran video other than 'Rio' -- and the single reason I ever put myself through any of the Power Station vids.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. Heheh. Rio was an awful video, wasn't it?

:hi:

[southpaw]

9. Look at him now...

Not too shabby...

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. Yowza! Not at all shabby.

:hi:

[loudestchick]

44. Yummy!!

[Richardo]

14. Police

...will always be '80s for me.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. My Choice As Well

The first 2 ablums were 70's, but they dominated the rock scene commercially for the first 5 years of the 80's, and they were one of the early MTV hit bands that were actually a band first, and video stars 2nd. Too bad the record executives learned nothing from the success of The Police. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ALL ABOUT IMAGE! (Dumbass Record Execs!)
The Professor

[NewYorkerfromMass]

41. Mine as threll

O.K. I made up a word. :)

[blondeatlast]

15. The Go-Gos, for three reasons: they represent women gaining respect

as musicians in their own right in the '80s, their sound and style was quintessentially '80s, too.

Edit: and yes, I thought they were great, and Kathy Valentine helped set my style for YEARS.

[tigereye]

53. there you go!

and they played pretty damn well, too. They inspired me to play music at the time. The first time we heard "We Got the Beat" was a revelation.

[JimmyJazz]

17. i'd say this photo pretty much sums up the 80s

[johnnie]

21. When I think of 80s music..

..I always think of the hair bands more than I do the "New wave" type bands.
I hated the 80's mainstream music scene. That spandex and big hair was just too much to take. Bands like Ratt, Cinderella, Motley Crew, Poison... *shiver*...I just couldn't take it. If I saw Kip Winger's friggin ass one more time I was gonna pull an Elvis on my television.

[Magrittes Pipe]

25. No Solar Radio?

Show some love for the folks down under, man!

[Wat_Tyler]

27. Solar Radio or The Church.

There's something quintessentially 80's about The Church.

[Magrittes Pipe]

32. Yeah. The '80s sucked.

[Wat_Tyler]

34. Look. I'm sorry Marty Wilson-Piper shagged your mom.

Get over it, okay?

[Magrittes Pipe]

35. Who didn't?

:shrug:

[tigereye]

54. I always liked The Church

you are the only other person of my acquaintance that also seemed to.

[SidDithers]

26. Yeah, have to go with Duran Duran...

They're the poster boys for 80's music.

I was more a Smiths type of guy tho. Saw Billy Bragg open for The Smiths in 1984 - still one of my all time fave concerts.

Sid

Edit - just checked, was 1985 not 84

[XNASA]

28. XTC

[MissMillie]

29. The Cure

but I also think Thompson Twins.

[SidDithers]

30. Depeche Mode, New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen...

This is stirring up some memories. Might have to dig the record player out this weekend :)

Sid

[sundog]

33. All depends on what 80's you were living in...

your choices make sense to me, Sid

just add Talking Heads & Erasure & it'll work just fine for me
:7

[loudestchick]

45. We are so old!

I'm even too old to be a "young democrat" now....36 sucks!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

46. The turntable! Get the turntable!

Yeah.... ABC, shoot that poison arrow!

[Nocturnes]

49. Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Cure, Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy

I might be biased of course

[Beware the Beast Man]

31. Slayer

I was a headbanger in those days...

[EstimatedProphet]

36. Tears for Fears

Shout
Head over Heels
Everybody Wants to Rule the World

[cedahlia]

42. Everybody Wants to Rule the World

definitely the quintessential 80's song. :thumbsup:

Head Over Heels is my favorite of theirs, but somehow Everybody... just seems more like time capsule material.

I love those guys...they have a new album coming out, too. Or is it already out? Wonder how it holds up agains the old stuff...anyone heard it?

[ScreamingMeemie]

37. You forgot WHAM!

They were sort of a band. I was going to marry George Michael one day...sigh....:hi:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

38. I did forget them and thank YOU so much for reminding me

:puke:

[ScreamingMeemie]

39. Anytime I can be of service...

;) and sometimes even when I cannot.

:hi:

[KPN08]

52. Dude..

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go!

[WoodrowFan]

40. Tears for Fears or Michael Jackson when he was black. (NT)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

43. The Clash

just wanted to throw them out there. :hi:

[getoffmytrain]

47. Where, pray tell, is U2?!?!?!?!?!

U2 is my answer.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

48. The Smiths (nt)

[Bombtrack]

50. whichever one sucked the most. Because that was one awful decade of music

I haven't heard of any of those except for a few like Duran Duran and Flock of Seaguls.

The 80's has been the worst decade of music since the 50's till today.

[Sandpiper]

51. Bon Jovi

The posterboy for '80s hair metal.

[KittyWampus]

55. The Fall.